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> I'm really tired of people fawning over China. Where are you seeing this? Any thread even remotely involving China is 95% filled with anti-Chinese posts, suc

> I'm really tired of people fawning over China. Where are you seeing this? Any thread even remotely involving China is 95% filled with anti-Chinese posts, such as your own. There were a few this week. Heck, look in this very same comment thread -where are the 'fawners' you speak of?

dnomad 8y ago
It's strange, isn't it? It's a ritual at this point: an anti-China post is submitted by adventured, rapidly voted up, and then filled with comments that are a competition to see who can denounce China the most. What do you suppose the point is? Is it a Trump thing? It certainly wasn't always the case. There was a time when I happily shared HN with Chinese colleagues. Was that point, I wonder.
- uRreading2slow 8y ago
  Rapidly voted up, and rapidly penalized. > position 11. How intermittent breaks in interaction improve collective intelligence, 34 points, 5 hours ago, 7 comments vs. > position 16. From laboratory in far west, China’s surveillance state spreads quietly, 82 points, 3 hours ago, 27 comments But that's not enough, I guess. > comments that are a competition to see who can denounce China the most. [..] Is it a Trump thing? I "love" how guidelines can be blatantly violated if it's in the right direction on the right subject. No, it's a totalitarianism thing, which you project via Trump. > There was a time when I happily shared HN with Chinese colleagues. Was that point, I wonder. So, you yourself never brought any of this up to them? I guess they were just colleagues, not friends. And at any rate not hackers by any remotely old school cultural definition.
- tepidandroid 8y ago
  The only demographic I can think of that would dedicate so much time denigrating a country with such force and vitriol are the ex-pats. SV types, though very left leaning, are far too busy. A common pattern to look for is large blocks of hand-wavy, conjecture-fuelled text with little in the way of facts and substance.
  - yorwba 8y ago
    Do you mean ex-pats from China living in other countries, or ex-pats from other countries now living in China?
    - seanmcdirmid 8y ago
      I think they means the latter. We (well, I used to be one) have a reputation for being salty, though we are just very critical having lived the life and seen things for real.
- woodandsteel 8y ago
  So you're saying things in China are actually pretty good? How about some specifics.
WillPostForFood 8y ago
Not sure about fawning, but every time there is a negative post about China, there is always a big thread of “we are just as bad”.
- seanmcdirmid 8y ago
  Those are just normal what aboutisms. Either side will feel like they are the underdog anyways, critical-China will complain about too many pro-China posts, pro-China will complain a bit too many anti-china posts. There is still enough of the latter because HN has plenty of Chinese readers and hasn’t been blocked in China (yet).
  - WillPostForFood 8y ago
    My sense is that it isn't Chinese HN readers defending China, it is self hating westerners.
    - seanmcdirmid 8y ago
      Who knows. I’m sure there is a bit of both.
- LeftTurnSignal 8y ago
  It seems like any thread about China or Microsoft or xxxxx devolves into a pissing match between A is better than B types. The good thing? about these posts being so common is it's a HUGE sign that I'm done with the thread and time to go somewhere new. The bad thing is that sometimes those comment threads do have good information. Such is life I think.

dnomad 8y ago

It's strange, isn't it? It's a ritual at this point: an anti-China post is submitted by adventured, rapidly voted up, and then filled with comments that are a competition to see who can denounce China the most. What do you suppose the point is? Is it a Trump thing? It certainly wasn't always the case. There was a time when I happily shared HN with Chinese colleagues. Was that point, I wonder.

uRreading2slow 8y ago
Rapidly voted up, and rapidly penalized. > position 11. How intermittent breaks in interaction improve collective intelligence, 34 points, 5 hours ago, 7 comments vs. > position 16. From laboratory in far west, China’s surveillance state spreads quietly, 82 points, 3 hours ago, 27 comments But that's not enough, I guess. > comments that are a competition to see who can denounce China the most. [..] Is it a Trump thing? I "love" how guidelines can be blatantly violated if it's in the right direction on the right subject. No, it's a totalitarianism thing, which you project via Trump. > There was a time when I happily shared HN with Chinese colleagues. Was that point, I wonder. So, you yourself never brought any of this up to them? I guess they were just colleagues, not friends. And at any rate not hackers by any remotely old school cultural definition.
tepidandroid 8y ago
The only demographic I can think of that would dedicate so much time denigrating a country with such force and vitriol are the ex-pats. SV types, though very left leaning, are far too busy. A common pattern to look for is large blocks of hand-wavy, conjecture-fuelled text with little in the way of facts and substance.
- yorwba 8y ago
  Do you mean ex-pats from China living in other countries, or ex-pats from other countries now living in China?
  - seanmcdirmid 8y ago
    I think they means the latter. We (well, I used to be one) have a reputation for being salty, though we are just very critical having lived the life and seen things for real.
woodandsteel 8y ago
So you're saying things in China are actually pretty good? How about some specifics.

WillPostForFood 8y ago

Not sure about fawning, but every time there is a negative post about China, there is always a big thread of “we are just as bad”.

seanmcdirmid 8y ago
Those are just normal what aboutisms. Either side will feel like they are the underdog anyways, critical-China will complain about too many pro-China posts, pro-China will complain a bit too many anti-china posts. There is still enough of the latter because HN has plenty of Chinese readers and hasn’t been blocked in China (yet).
- WillPostForFood 8y ago
  My sense is that it isn't Chinese HN readers defending China, it is self hating westerners.
  - seanmcdirmid 8y ago
    Who knows. I’m sure there is a bit of both.
LeftTurnSignal 8y ago
It seems like any thread about China or Microsoft or xxxxx devolves into a pissing match between A is better than B types. The good thing? about these posts being so common is it's a HUGE sign that I'm done with the thread and time to go somewhere new. The bad thing is that sometimes those comment threads do have good information. Such is life I think.